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Dumbydoor


Dear Messers Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs,
I’M TURNING FIFTEEN THIS MONTH, FINALLY!! I miss you guys loads and more than anything else for my birthday I want to get away from this house for a time. Can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE have a camping trip, the four of us, for my birthday? PLEASE? I want so much to see you all again. It’s been too bloody long!!!! I seriously don’t want anything else for my whole birthday except a campfire with you three idiots sitting about it with me.
Hope your summer’s been good. Mine’s been absolutely boring. I miss Hogwarts!
Padfoot, I reckon you know where Moony and I don’t so if you could pass this along to him that would be most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Peter / Wormtail.



James stared at the letter, at Wormtail’s messy scrawling handwriting and he smiled. He did miss Peter, who he had only seen the one time - at Maryrose’s birthday party - all summer. He wondered if Peter would be angry when he heard about James and Sirius’s adventure, stealing the motorbike and flying off to Hogsmeade to attack Albus Dumbledore as they’d done… Their summer had been anything but boring! And he was certain Sirius would have some grand stories to tell when he returned from Newt Scamander’s briefcase laboratory. After all, they were going to go to Egypt, Newt had said! James was jealous.

He laid on the floor and wrote Peter back, telling him that Moony and Padfoot were otherwise occupied at the time being and that he was accepting the offer on at least Padfoot’s behalf (he didn’t know if Remus would be allowed to leave the briefcase for a weekend camping trip with his mates but he knew Sirius would be all over it).

We’ve had a rather eventful summer. But then again, when you’re around Padfoot it’s rather impossible to have a calm one, isn’t it? James wrote. We’ll tell you all about it when we’re sitting ‘round that campfire you mentioned!

The letter from Peter wasn’t the only thing that Bubo had delivered to James, and so he pushed Peter’s note aside and grabbed the next thing - an envelope (quite a thick one, too) with Lily Evans handwriting on it. Made out to Sirius. James frowned and stared at the way her letters looped and twisted about all girly-like and he put the envelope aside, though he stole glances at it, even as he grabbed the next item from his stack -- The Daily Prophet.

It was 3 August and the very next day would be the elections for the new Minister for Magic and everyday the polls were changing whether it would be Tutman or Minchum and James felt quite stressed every time he thought about it. He couldn’t understand how anybody could think that Tutman would be a good idea for Minister - everyone he had spoken to was for Minchum, but then again everyone he’d spoken to was either his parents or else in the Resistance with them.

There was a very big meeting of some sort going on, right then, even as James was sitting on the couch and opening up his mail. Everyone in the Resistance (with the exception, most notably, of Albus Dumbledore) had come to the Potters and he’d been kicked out of the kitchen, where they were meeting. Dora had cast some spell that kept him from being able to listen through the door, too, and James had gone into the living room, quite frustrated, and told to baby-sit Ted and Andromeda Tonk’s toddler, Nymphadora, who barely could talk, made no sense what so ever with what she could say, and changed her hair colour constantly from hot bubblegum pink to shimmering gold to neon lime green…

“Look,” she said, grabbing at the knee of James’s jeans, “Look.” She scrunched up her face and her hair turned orange as a pumpkin and she laughed and clapped her hands.

“Yeah, brilliant,” James said, who’d made a big deal of it a couple times just to entertain her, but was bored of it now. After all, he was quite used to girls who could scrunch up their noses and change their hair colours now, thanks to Maryrose and her teal mane.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and James threw down the paper. Who could it be? Everyone who’s been told where our house is at is in the kitchen -- except --.... Could it be Dumbledore?

Nymphadora had run toward the door, crying out, “Door! Door!” and James ran after her, scooping her up just a couple feet from the door.

“Oi now, you don’t just go running to the door you ickle git. You never know who it is...”

Nymphadora giggled, twisting in James’s ams until she was hanging upside down and kicking her legs as she squealed merrily. James carried her like that, her hair turning lemon-yellow and dragging on the floor. James peeked out the curtain beside the door and sure enough… there was Albus Dumbledore. And in his hands… Newt Scamander’s briefcase.

“YES!” James yanked the door open (“Yes!” echoed Nymphadora, giggling). “Sir! Hello! You’ve brought Sirius and Remus back!” He eagerly pointed to the briefcase.

Dumbledore smiled and nodded and handed James the briefcase as he dropped Nymphadora to the floor with a thump and she scrambled to her feet. “Dumbydoor!” Nymphadora cried and she crunched up her nose and turned her hair exactly the magenta color of Albus Dumbledore’s robes before slamming herself against his knees, hugging his legs. “Dumbydoor!”

Dumbledore chuckled and bent to pick her up, groaning as he straightened, and closed the door behind himself as Nymphadora tangled her tiny fingers into his beard and tugged a bit at it, laughing when it wouldn’t come away from his face. His blue eyes twinkled at her under his halfmoon glasses, and he followed as James ran into the living room and tossed the briefcase onto the coffee table with excitement.

He’d just got it open when Charlus appeared at the door to the living room. “Albus, you’ve come just in time. We were just discussing --” Charlus’s eyes flickered to James, who’d paused in lifting the lid on the briefcase to turn and listen to what it was the Resistance had been just discussing. Charlus’s voice lowered, “You-know-what. We need your opinion. Come.”

Dumbledore smiled, nodded, and turned to James, “I assume you’ll be quite capable of alerting your friends we’ve arrived without my assistance?”

“Yeah,” James nodded.

Dumbledore smiled and plopped Nymphadora down on the couch gently, waving his hand so that a stream of bubbles of all different colors were floating about to distract her, and he followed after Charlus into the kitchen.

“Bubbas!” said Nymphadora, reaching to tap one and blinking in surprise when it popped, splashing her nose. She giggled. “Bubbas!”

“Yeah, bubbas.” James was disappointed not to hear what it was the Resistance had been talking about. But not for long because while his hesitation had been going on - the crack at the mouth of the suitcase had been noticed and suddenly it burst opened, Sirius Black leaping from within, toppling James over. “Bloody hell, ‘bout near gave me a heart attack!” James exclaimed as Sirius snorted at his wild-eyed expression from where he’d fallen onto the carpet.

Sirius clapped his hand into James’s, pulling him up, “Oi, Prongs, you’ve cut your hair.”

“Mum’s done it,” James answered. His hair had been trimmed several inches in an attempt to tame it a bit, but if anything the hair was now even more unruly, practically standing up on it’s own accord.

Sirius ran his hands over it, messing it up even further.

“Hey James,” Remus’s voice came next as he climbed out of the suitcase. He looked horrible - all worn out and tired, his eyes dark and cheeks pale so that the scar across his nose looked pinker than usual.

“Remus!” James pulled him into a hug and patted his back quickly.

“Weymiss!” echoed Nymphadora.

Remus looked over at her as she crunched her nose and turned her hair a dark purple colour. “Um, who’s that?” he asked, looking back at James.

“Ted and Andromeda’s,” answered James. “I’m stuck watching her while they’re in a meeting for the Resistance. You remember, we met her at the end of second year. She was a good bit smaller then.”

Remus’s eyes lit up with recollection. “Oh, yeah.”

Sirius’s eyes had lit up for a whole other reason. “They’re having a Resistance meeting? Here? Right now?”

“Yeah. But they’ve cast a spell so you can’t hear what’s going on. I tried,” James said dejectedly.

Sirius said, “Where? Show me.”

“In the kitchen, this way…” James led the way out of the living room and into the hallway, followed by Sirius.

Remus was about to follow after when he was stopped, his robes being tugged at. He turned and looked down at the little upturned toddler face.

“Weemis!” said Nymphadora, grinning at him, “Look!” She crunched her nose and turned her hair the brightest shade of red Remus had ever seen. Like a bloody fire engine. “Look more!” she said and she crunched up again and turned it neon green again.

Remus glanced the way James and Sirius had gone and decided they would come and get him if they found anything exciting out… but someone had to watch the little tyke… so he knelt down. “Wow, blimey, you’re good at that. Can you do lots and lots of colours, then?”

She crunched her nose, happy for the attention, and her hair was soon hot pink… lemon yellow… pea green… sandy blonde… orange… grape purple… and Remus laughed and clapped each time she did it, and she would squeal and stamp her feet in excitement because she’d got a reaction and she kept crying out, “Look! Look!”

Sirius and James, meanwhile, had snuck down the hallway to the kitchen door and James pointed to the door. Sirius inched closer, but true to what James had said, he couldn’t hear a single thing - even with his keener hearing. He frowned, then laid himself down on the floor at the crack at the bottom of the door frame and drew his wand. “Sonorus,” he whispered, thinking perhaps the spell might magnify the sound coming from within, the way it did when it was cast on a speaker’s throat, but no such luck. He mused, rubbing his chin a moment, staring at the door frame.

Suddenly the door opened. James bolted away, sprinting back to the living room and abandoning Sirius there at the door. Sirius found himself staring at a pair of very thick, dusty boots and his eyes traveled upwards until he found himself staring up at Alastor Moody’s magical eyeball. He grinned awkwardly. “Lovely evening for laying on the carpet, isn’t it?” he asked.

Moody smacked his lip a moment, staring at Sirius in disapproval, and he muttered, “Ought you to be there, Mr. Black?”

“I’m guessing by the look on your face that would be a no…?”

“Listening in on things that ain’t your business could get you in a load of trouble, now git.” Moody kicked at him gently to shoo him off and Sirius rolled away, scrambling to his feet and hurrying off down the hall.

“You git,” he announced, stepping into the hall, shoving James, “Leaving me for dead.”

“I wasn’t about to get my hide skinned by Moody!” James said.

Sirius shoved him again.

Together they stepped into the living room to find Nymphadora was giggling, clapping her hands together and squealing with pleasure as Remus stood before her, magicking a stuffed rabbit to dance before her. The toy did cartwheels and hopped about here and there, it’s cloth ears flopping as Remus waved his wand. He looked over, continuing on with the game, but focusing on Sirius and James, “Hear anything?” he asked.

“Moody caught us, got pissed,” Sirius said.

Remus smiled as Nymphadora let out a particularly large squeal and caught the rabbit. He lowered his wand arm as she hugged and squeezed it, rocking it back and forth. “Well that’s no good,” Remus said. “What do you reckon their meeting about?”

“The elections,” said James, “I’m sure of it. They’re tomorrow, you know.” He reached for the Daily Prophet on the couch and shook it open, “And Tutman’s in the lead right now.” He turned the page for them to see a large wizarding photograph of Minchum and Tutman on the front page, both winking and blinking and waving. The headline declared Tutman was the favorite to win.

“Rubbish!” said Sirius hotly. “No way can Professor Tutman end up Minister! No way! Harold Minchum is way better qualified and also not imperiused by the Dark Lord!”

Remus frowned. “I guess we’ll see tomorrow.”

“Weemis!”

He turned.

“Look!” Nymphadora sprouted two long rabbit ears from her head as her hair turned brilliantly, perfectly white and she giggled.